House Bill 1 provides for $18,446,578 to ensure full funding of the teacher pay raise for 2019-2020; a bureaucratic error had resulted in a shortfall in the original FY2020 appropriation for the $1,500 raise for certified and assistant teachers (passed in the 2019 Legislative Session).

• Referred to House Appropriations Committee, 1/8/2020

• Passed by House Appropriations Committee, 1/8/2020

• Passed by House; yeas: 121, nays: 1, 1/9/2020

• Referred to Senate Appropriations Committee, 1/14/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 1/15/2020

• Passed by Senate; yeas: 52, nays: 0, 1/16/2020

• Signed by Governor, 1/23/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 989 – DEAD – prohibits local school boards from raising ad valorem taxes for the support of the school district when the district’s state, local, federal, and other funds exceed the minimum in state and local funds called for in the MAEP formula; gives the Legislature authority to intervene in the allocation of school funds in a way that current law does not allow.

• Referred to House Accountability/Efficiency/Transparency (AET) and Education Committees, 2/14/2020

• Passed by House AET Committee, 2/20/2020

• Passed by House Education Committee, 3/3/2020

• Died on House calendar, 3/12/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a nay vote on this bill.

House Bill 994 amends criteria for entrance into an approved teacher education program as follows: ACT score of 21 (or SAT equivalent) or achieve qualifying passing score on Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exam as established by State Board of Education, or minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 on coursework prior to admission.

• Referred to House Education Committee, 2/14/2020

• Passed by House Education Committee, 2/25/2020

• Passed by House, 3/4/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 1139 adds Community Schools as an option in Districts of Innovation. 

• Referred to House Education Committee, 2/17/2020

• Passed by House Education Committee, 3/3/2020

• Passed by House, 3/11/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

House Bill 1647 authorizes local school boards to grant teachers and other school district employees leave with pay during a state of emergency; gives the same authority to city and county governments; the governor on March 14 declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

• Passed by House Rules Committee, 3/17/2020

• Passed by House, 3/17/2020

• Passed by Senate Rules Committee, 3/18/2020

• Passed by Senate, 3/18/2020

• Signed by Governor, 3/19/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2001 adjusts salary schedule for certified teachers as follows: increases starting salary for certified teachers by $1,110 to $37,000 and increases salary for all other certified teachers by $1,000, beginning in 2020-2021 school year; increases salary for assistant teachers from current $14,000 to $15,000, beginning in 2020-2021 school year. 

• Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 1/14/2020

• Passed by Senate Education Committee, 1/30/2020

• Passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 2/4/2020

• Passed by Senate; yeas: 52, nays: 0, 2/5/2020

• Referred to House Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/19/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2286 amends ELC statute; increases per student funding for Early Learning Collaboratives to $2,500 for full-day and $1,125 for half-day programs; changes curriculum and reporting requirements; sets goal to serve 25 percent of four-year-olds by beginning of 2022-2023 school year.

• Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/7/2020

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate Education Committee, changes per student funding for half-day programs to $1,250; 2/19/2020

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate Appropriations Committee, 2/25/2020

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate, 3/9/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2511 amends criteria for entrance into an approved teacher education program as follows: ACT score of 21 (or SAT equivalent) or achieve qualifying passing score on Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators exam as established by State Board of Education, or minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on coursework prior to admission.

• Referred to Senate Education Committee, 2/14/2020

• Passed by Senate Education Committee, 2/19/2020

• Passed by Senate, 3/4/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors a yea vote on this bill.

Senate Bill 2594 amends ESA voucher statute; requires that the eligible student have had an active IEP within the past 3 years; restricts eligible nonpublic schools to special purpose schools, nonpublic schools with special purpose programs, or online learning programs; requires that the eligible nonpublic school be able to provide special education services independently, without assistance from the participating student’s home public school district; requires that a participating student’s remaining ESA funds be distributed to the home school district when the student returns to the home public school district; deletes the requirement for a lottery and requires that ESA vouchers be assigned in the chronological order in which applications are received.

• Referred to Senate Education and Appropriations Committees, 2/17/2020

The Parents’ Campaign favors removal of provisions that allow online schools to be eligible schools.

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate Education Committee:  eliminates online schools from eligibility, requires eligible nonpublic schools to certify to MDE that they will provide services for a participating student’s disability or special education needs or provide services addressing a participating student’s IEP, allows eligible schools to use public schools to provide special education services but requires that public schools be reimbursed at fair market value; 2/27/2020

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate Appropriations Committee,  2/27/2020

• Committee substitute bill passed by Senate,  3/6/2020

The Parents’ Campaign has no position on the bill as it passed Senate committees; VOTE NO on any amendment to broaden current language.